Wednesday 9 July 2008

Planned or unplanned the food was still good!

Money is tight for most people at the moment with the credit crunch, Gordon Brown telling us we waste too much food - some people are moaning about it, but he is not saying something that isn't true. (I am not politically minded and think whoever we have a PM will make decisions we do not like.)

I, like most people who work in low-medium paid jobs, have always had to be creative with my finances. One thing I suppose had been good about that is the ability to make a meal out of anything when needs must. I always look for bargains, but one area I could do with improving is the planning of meals for the week. I am off work now for the summer (unpaid) so this is going to be my task - to get in the habit of planning as many of the family meals as possible.


Sorry for the poor quality picture, but DD#2 was famished and was fed up with Mum taking pictures of her tea.



Saying that, yesterday when I went to the local express supermarket, they had some lean minced beef going cheap and instead of making the usual meatballs. burgers, or bolognese, I added some herbs and spices to the beef: onion powder, garlic powder, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, thyme, oregano and a finely chopped fresh red chilli.

I mushed it about for a bit and wrapped it onto some skewers, chilled them and then popped them under the grill.

I had some salad leaves from the garden, a couple of lovely tomatoes and a dip made with v.low fat creme freche with finely chopped pineapple mint, it was delicious, but as I never measured anything will probably never taste the same again.

6 comments:

Manggy said...

Ooh yeah, kebabs! Excellent.
Unpaid summer job?! Oh man. Well, good luck!

Marie Rayner said...

Sounds lovely and looks even better Angela! I have always tried to be thrifty. I wish the grocery stores would make smaller packages for smaller families and NOT charge more than an arm and a leg for them! I always end up buying the bigger package as it's cheaper and still end up having to throw away some anyways. It's infuriating!

Raquel said...

I agree with Marie, it would be nice to go into a store and just be able to buy 1/2 a pound of this or only 2 oranges instead of a dozen - without paying the same price! Those kofta look great! Hope that you are doing well! Much love - Raquel XO

Susan Morris said...

Food prices over here in the States have sky rocketed since the rising price of petrol. My big thing is being creative with leftovers which usually ends up in the dog's dishes.
Nice Beef Kofte Angela.

Anonymous said...

What must our children be thinking when we are always taking pictures of their food? I'm sure they will have funny stories to tell when they are older.

Jan said...

I have no choice but to plan meals before I go shopping, my nearest grocery store of any description is 16 miles away. So it's not like I can pop back if I forget something.

But because I have to be so organised, very little food gets wasted in this house. So it really is worth making the effort.

Your kebabs sound great. And congrats on loosing all that weight. I know I should make the effort, but I don't.